Contents

History

Construction on a new arena across Route 20
(now 120) from Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack began in
1977. The arena was designed by Grad Partnership and Dilullo,
Clauss, Ostroki & Partners, and was constructed at a cost of
$85 million. Originally named Brendan Byrne Arena
(after Brendan
Byrne, the sitting governor of the state, who was also a member
of the ownership group seeking to bring an NHL team to the State),
the arena opened July 2, 1981,
with the first of six concerts by New Jersey rock musician Bruce Springsteen. This was followed
by an ice show later that month.

The name change to Continental Airlines Arena also caused
controversy in April of that year, when the arena hosted the NCAA Final
Four. During the CBS coverage of the event, Continental signage
was not shown on camera, and the arena was simply referred to as
"The Meadowlands". CBS and the NCAA already had airline sponsors
for the event before Continental's naming rights deal.

Following the Devils' final season at the arena in 2007,
Continental Airlines opted out of the naming rights agreement. A
new agreement was made with Izod,
a clothing company, to rename the arena Izod
Center. The company will pay $1.4 million per annum for
the first two years of the agreement, while the Nets are still
tenants, which will drop to $750,000 per year for the balance of
the five-year deal.[1] The
columns of the arena's exterior were also repainted red as the
arena assumed a new color scheme.

The Barclays Center is the center of an extensive redevelopment
project called the Atlantic Yards being built by Nets owner
Bruce Ratner's
real estate development company. Originally, the arena was planned
to be open for the Nets for the 2009–10 season, but lawsuits,
economic issues, and a recession have plagued the
project. The earliest the franchise would relocate to Brooklyn
would be 2011, although these plans are still in doubt.[2]

In September 2006, the team and the New Jersey Sports and
Exposition Authority announced an extension of their lease to keep
the team in the Meadowlands until 2013, with a provision to leave
as early as 2009 if the Brooklyn arena is completed. It has been
reported that Ratner has sought to sell the Nets, thus thwarting
any possible move to Brooklyn.[3]
Recently, Newark mayor Cory Booker and Devils owner Jeffrey
Vanderbeek have called for the closing of the Izod Center
because it is a competing venue to the Prudential Center for
events, and that it is a "drain on taxpayers."[4]

Due to the success of two preseason Nets games played at the
Prudential Center in October 2009, a deal is in the works to have
the Nets play in Newark for two seasons beginning in the 2010-11
NBA season. The deal would result in the Prudential Center hosting
sporting events (Devils, Nets, Seton Hall), and the Izod Center
handling concerts and family shows. The two arenas would form a
joint venture, Jersey Presents LLC, and wrestle leverage from
promoters who had been playing the two against each other.[5] “You
can’t have two venues that close together fighting each other and
have that be productive for the state,” said Jerry Zaro, economic
czar to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who is brokering the deal.[6]

Arena
usage

Sports

The arena, when it was named Continental Airlines Arena, during a
college basketball
game

The arena has primarily served as a sports venue in its history.
The arena has been the home of the NBA's New Jersey Nets basketball franchise
since 1981. It was the home arena for the NHL's New Jersey
Devils hockey franchise from 1982 to 2007 and the NCAA's Seton
Hall Pirates men's basketball team from 1985 to 2007 as well as
continuing to play host to various regular season men's college
basketball games, most recently on December 20, 2008. Izod Center
uses two separate floors for NBA and NCAA basketball- a standard
hardwood floor for Nets games and the arena's old parquet floor for regular
season college basketball (since 2007, the NCAA has used a uniform
floor for regional sites).

College basketball first arrived at the arena with the opening
rounds of the 1984 NCAA
basketball tournament. Seton Hall moved its Big East
Conference men's basketball games to the arena for the
1985–1986 season, enhancing a tradition that would soon become
rich. The arena hosted the NCAA Men's Final Four in 1996, the last
traditional arena to do so to date. On eleven occasions (1986–91,
1993, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2007) the arena hosted the semifinals and
finals of the tournament's East Regional. Only Kansas
City's Municipal
Auditorium, which hosted 13 regional finals from 1940–52, has
hosted more.[7] It also
hosted the 1982–1989 Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference and 1986 Atlantic Ten Conference men's
basketball tournaments.

One of the most infamous moments in the venue's history came on
January 22, 1987, when the "334 club" was formed. After New Jersey
was hit with 20 inches of snow, only 334 fans attended the
Devils' 7–5 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Concerts

The arena has been a popular site for concerts, due to it having
been designed with acoustics in mind and to it having a lesser
facility fee for artists than competing venues, such as Madison
Square Garden. Jersey native Bruce Springsteen remains one of
the most popular concert acts to perform in the arena; his
appearances have included a 10-night, sold-out run in 1984, an
11-night run in 1992, and a 15-night, sold-out run in 1999. This
last feat is commemorated by a large banner hanging from the
rafters, next to the banners representing the achievements of the
resident sports teams. Queen played one of their final US shows
with original lead singer Freddie Mercury here in 1982 as part of
their Hot Space
Tour. Queen + Paul Rodgers played here
in 2005 as one of the only two North American dates that year. This
also marked the first concert by Queen since 1982 in the US. The
arena also hosted three shows of Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour. A
1999 concert by Dave Matthews Band was recorded for
a PBS special, and subsequently released as a concert album and DVD
under the name Listener Supported. Portions of
the
Rolling Stones 1983 concert film Let's Spend the Night
Together were filmed at the arena.[9] The
concert footage was filmed in the fall of 1981. The Red Hot
Chili Peppers chose the Izod Center as the venue to film their
video "Snow
((Hey Oh))", including shots of the stairwells and tunnels of
the stadium. In 2008 Madonna kicked off her North American leg of
her highly successful Sticky & Sweet Tour. On
July 14 and 15 of 2009, New Jersey natives the Jonas Brothers
performed their 2009 World Tour at
the arena. Kiss
performed there on June 27, 2000, as part of their
farewell tour; the show was filmed and is available on the
Kissology Volume Three: 1992–2000 box set.

Sports Hall of Fame of New
Jersey

The Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey was established in 1988 to
honor athletes, teams, events and contributors associated with the
state of New Jersey. There is currently no physical
site or structure for the hall, but its members are honored with
plaques that are displayed at Izod Center.

Public
perception

The former Continental Airlines Arena signage

Izod Center frequently is cited near the bottom of arena polls.
It is commonly referred to as "cold and dull" in appearance, as
well as being "cavernous".[11] In a
2005 poll, USA
Today rated it the worst arena in the NBA. The reviewer
lamented about the distance of the nosebleed seats from the court,
as well as how crowded the concourse became after the game.[12] The
arena's poor perception has played a role in the downscaling of the
arena.

The arena has also been criticized for funneling both levels of
the arena into one, crowded concourse. Hockey players and fans alike
acknowledged the poor ice quality of Izod Center, which was common
of many hockey arenas used for other sports. The difficulty arose
when converting the playing surface from wood to ice.

On the other hand, the arena is generally well-regarded for
concerts, with its good sightlines and relatively good
acoustics.